Had the opportunity to head over to the Gold Coast, Australia back in October and I packed my running shoes along. One thing’s for sure, if it’s running that you are looking forward to, there are no shortage of places to run at, even when you are located in the tourist mecca of Surfers Paradise. I headed out on a run on the morning of Day 3 of my trip at the Gold Coast, having spent the first day flying (it was a red-eye), and the 2nd day was full-on tour activities right after we exited the airport.

First Run

Back to the first run. It was a classic “Surf Club Run”. I’ll tell you why in a moment. I started at about 5 in the morning, near Eileen Peters Park, heading south. From there, I caught a glimpse of the sun in the horizon and I ran into Broadbeach, passing by the Kurrawa Surf Club (about 3 kilometres from where I started and then onto Pratten Park. The next Surf Club I tagged was the Mermaid Beach Surf Club, which was about 1.7 KM down the road from Kurrawa. It was here I saw the sun rise.

Having enough of tarmac, I headed to the beach and started running back to Surfers Paradise. I overshot Eileen Peters Park and ran up to the place where I had dinner the previous night (Hurricane’s) to get a nice total distance of 10 KM.

Second Run

The next day’s run was a total whopper. 17 KM in length, I really had no idea I was going to be out that long, but this run is definitely one you should try out if you are staying in Surfers. Starting from Eileen Peters Park, I ran up north this time. The running scene here in Gold Coast is awesome, with walkways and cycleways making up the Gold Coast Oceanway and drinking stations in abundance. I soon found myself in the area known as Federation Walk, and here’s where the walkways stop, and the trails begin in the form of the Federation Walk.

Now, Federation Walk is really unique, as part of it includes sand dunes and reclamation efforts, and the trail is a mix of sand, and gravel. I passed by Seaworld before heading deeper in the dunes, finally emerging and the sand-reclamation jetty. I didn’t really make it to the end of The Spit (which is a minor regret in an otherwise totally awesome run), but I did pay some money to get onto the Sand Bypass Jetty. The winds from the Pacific were blowing very strong that day, and the newspapers on the next day reported that it was up to 60 km/h that morning. No wonder I was almost blown off my feet during the return leg.

One thing about the Gold Coast that differs a lot from Malaysia is the lack of humidity. This translates to much longer, and much comfortable runs. And that meant I ran for a third day straight. This was with a colleague over the same northern route into The Spit, but cut short to a 5 KM in, 5 KM out, kind of thing.

Space on the iPhone has taken such a premium that games (with exception, of course, to Pokemon GO…. no surprise there huh?) have now been relegated to the iPad. But this begs the question, what third-party apps do I hold dear to (other than Facebook) even when storage management becomes a daily affair?

First up, there’s the Strava app. I use the service as a third party aggregator between my Fitbit (being an owner of a Surge) and Garmin (being an owner for the Fenix 2 and a bunch of bike sensors) accounts. While my Fitbit Surge is pretty decent at keeping track of runs due to its built-in GPS, nothing beats the Garmin Fenix 2 when it comes to battery life and tracking stuff like bike rides and swims. Strava is the place where all these details end up in. It is also very satisfying moving up the leaderboards for any of the Strava segments on my training routes.

Instagram is something that I’ve just gotten into very recently, and the app is really cool, and convenient to put up photos, especially those that I’ve taken during runs and bike rides. My glasses-wearing four year-old daughter features prominently in my Instagram profile as well, she never fails to ham it up for the camera. For aspiring app developers, you may do well digging into the settings portion of the app for an idea what kind of cool third party software development libraries that the folks behind Instagram have taken to use.

Last but not least, Swarm. This is a bit old school given that it has its roots in Foursquare. At this juncture, I’m pretty much locked in a battle to maintain mayorship of the company HQ… nothing beats some work time fun eh?

What’s the common theme among the bunch of apps? Instagram aside, location-based services and gamification feature heavily in both Strava and Swarm.

From scrounging around the wasteland previously known as Boston for ammo and surviving Super Mutants in Fallout 4, I’ve taken to trying to take back what humanity lost in XCOM 2, but those damn aliens (and the whole low-tech approach to things) sure can make things really difficult. I’ve so far done one reload back to an early part of the game in order to get base-building and resource management (look Ma, no satellites this time around, we have radio transmission towers!) right but the going has been tough as there are plenty of things to trip you up and distract you.

The game hasn’t been kind to my Macbook Pro either, stating that it is not up to scratch when it comes to fulfilling the minimum requirements (I’m using an rMBP with an i5 and 16 GB of RAM), but oh well, it still runs once I dismiss the warning screen at the start.

Kinda lost count of how many times I covered Batman and his “deaths” but Scott Snyder’s Endgame was a historic double-kill with both Batman and the Joker been taken out. But given the nature of “American” comics, nothing ever stays dead for long, and you guess it, Bruce Wayne (and the Joker) came back but only in body, not in spirit (look Ma, no angst and crazy thirst to protect people).

Trust a crisis (featuring an all new villain, Mr. Bloom, who has beaten replacement Batman Jim Gordon to an inch of his life) to drive Bruce Wayne to be Batman again and this time it’s thanks to a device that backs-up Batman’s memories and proceeds to restore them! Yup, as of Batman #49, the second last chapter in the Superheavy story-arc, Batman is whole again.

Does the name Nubuo Uematsu ring a bell? That’s because he has been composing video game music for over 30 years, including the soundtracks for most major Final Fantasy titles and the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Uematsu is back with designer Yoshitaka Amano (best known for his work on the 1960s anime adaptation of Speed Racer, as well as a character and graphic designer for the Final Fantasy series) in a collaboration with NYC-based indie studio TURBO.

The two luminaries’ upcoming title with TURBO is Super Senso, an e-sports driven mobile title (iOS and Android) inspired by the classic Advance Wars. The game delivers a competitive, strategic experience with customizable armies of massive, upgradable mechs, zombie soldiers, tanks, ninjas, weaponized dinosaurs, UFOs and more. Players will have the opportunity to outwit and outlast opponents in fast-paced, synchronous, turn-based battles across lively, 3D arenas for rare rewards, exclusive content and globally ranked dominance.

“Super Senso’s graphic style and visuals had a big impact on me,” said Uematsu. “I felt that synthesizer sounds were appropriate for a game like this, rather than orchestral instruments. If I were to describe the feeling I wanted to evoke based on a movie, I’d liken it to something like Terminator.”

“Both as a developer and fan, it’s been a true honor working with Amano-san and Uematsu-san on Super Senso,” said Yohei Ishii, CEO of TURBO. “Everyone here owes so much inspiration to the monumental influence these two visionaries have had on games, and we all collectively geeked out a little watching their creations come to life.”

One of the more interesting Gundam manga that I’ve been reading has gotten its anime adaption and it’s pretty awesome. Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt (Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt) is an on-going manga series published since 2012 and set in the UC era. Basically the Federation forces are fighting against Zeon in an area of space known as the Thunderbolt sector which is named after electrical discharges proliferating that area coming from the debris of multiple space colonies.

Like any other Gundam anime/manga, it’s difficult to determine a clear cut protagonist/antagonist between the two main characters, the Federation ensign Io Flemming, and the disabled Zeon pilot Daryl Lorenz who is part of a larger squad filled with likewise disabled Zeon pilots, dubbed the Living Dead.

The first episode in this animated adaptation does not disappoint, as the graphics are, well, almost, jaw-dropping. The effect is kinda like watching Macross Frontier for the first time when it was released back in 2008. I believe the keyword was sugoi, in the awesome sense. Fans of Gundam Unicorn will feel right at home here.

The first sortie with the Zeon forces nearly ended up in defeat for the Federation forces but it was ended in a rather unconventional way, which ironically conveniently paves the path for revenge. Viewers are quickly introduced to the Full Armor Gundam but as to whether we get to see the full capabilities of the machine, the next episode beckons (with this series being an ONA, I’m not sure on when’s the next air date).

Happy New Year! I suppose I ought to blog even more in 2016, having slacked off a fair bit during 2015 due to work commitments. What are New Year resolutions on my plate? Do up the house a little bit more (we didn’t have the time to do so during the rollercoaster first three years of Natalia’s life), up the training ante when it comes to running and cycling, and perhaps be a better dad to a rambunctious three-year old who only turns four by Christmas next year.

In any case when it comes to games, I’ve yet to finish both games that I’ve set out to play in earnest towards the end of 2015. Both StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Fallout 4 are huge timesinks on their own, and I happen to love both of them. My daughter has been running around with the Fallout 4 disc though (she figured out how to eject discs from the PS4 while I need to Google every single time I need to do so), I should be worried.

Fallout 4 is so awesome it’s worth an additional mention here. Settlement building is a fun take on the game, it’s like The Sims, but with Raiders, Gunners…and whatever other factions out to kill and maim your settlers. And the game is so darn difficult even at normal levels, but it’s addictive that way.

In the mean time, stay tuned for more reviews and news coming your way via Nineoverten.com this 2016. I promise.

It’s quite interesting to note that every time I visit a casino (and that’s like twice a year, most of the time at the behest of my in-laws), games featuring an Egyptian theme feature prominently. I guess it’s the whole idea of adventure, discovery and unpredictability whereby you don’t know what you’ll get with each bet placed. I’m pretty sure that the folks over at Majestic Slots would agree that Egyptian themed (or anything to do with antiquity) are popular with punters out there.

Speaking of Egyptian themes, Dark Tonic’s latest iOS game, Treasure Tombs: Ra Deal is out now on the iTunes App Store. Unlike slot games, this is a rogue-like puzzle game, but the theme lends the same aspects of adventure and discovery to the game. Players take on the role of low-budget adventurer Colorado Cajones as he finds himself stuck within a cursed Egyptian tomb with a grumpy undead pharaoh in a not-so-fortunate misadventure in Egypt.

Colorado will have to be cleverly guided by players out of grid-based levels filled with treacherous traps and mummified foes, all the while equipped with his trusty torchlight and collecting loot along the way. With each level, the loot gets lesser and lesser, and the tombs get even more dangerous, and players must use their wits to dodge booby traps and conquer tricky puzzles.

I once heard a colleague described how a guy was hitting on her by describing himself to be like an alpaca in certain matters. We had a good laugh about it so you can imagine how difficult it was to keep a straight face while playing a game that has an alpaca front and centre as its hero character (guess what, his name is Al Pacone the Alpaca) :P. Cheekily categorised as an APS (Alpaca Perspective Shooter), German-based b-interactive‘s latest mobile game, Alpacalypse, is a hoot to play.

The game is essentially an arcade style, side-scrolling shooter, with the exception that Al Pacone is anchored to the left side of the screen, with a contionous bunch of grotesque human forms (like a South American nightmare of weird creatures) coming in from the right. Al Pacone’s basic armament is his spit, which is triggered by tapping on the right hand side of the screen. To handle the different shapes and sizes of his enemies, holding down on the left hand side of the screen will cause his neck to elongate, allowing players to aim better.

Even with the three different power-ups available, Alpacalypse is one tough cookie to crack. Beneath it’s pretty looking, and colourful 2D veneer, players will have a hard time dealing with wave after wave of enemies, as there’s always a chance of being overwhelmed, often from mistakes. The development team’s high score is apparently 290 back when the beta was out, and I’ve only managed to hit around 60-ish.

Speaking of the development team, I really like how they eschewed IAPs, and any kind of reward (mainly dressing up Al Pacone) the player can redeem is by playing the game. There’s one thing that b-interactive could have done better, which is to include Game Center-powered leaderboards in the game, I really hope to see that in future updates. Thanks to the comedic premise of Apocalypse (who doesn’t like an Alpaca), high difficulty level and beautiful 2D-graphics, Alpacalypse gets a 4.5 out of 5 from Nineoverten.com.

The original Rock(s) Rider was released way back in May 2012, with the iPhone 4S being the pinnacle of performance back then. The team from ECA-Games has been hard at work since, and now, they have released the sequel to that highly rated side-scrolling Trials-type motorcycle game with Rock(s) Rider – HD Edition, just in time to celebrate (and fully take advantage) of the power the iPhone 6S has to offer.

The game itself is a 3D side-scroller and I’ve had the pleasure of playing it for the past few days. It has this vibe from the Tony Hawk games that I really like, and the menus lend an early triple-A feel into the game. Once you’ve selected your rider (both genders are represented in the game), it’s onto the levels, and Rock(s) does not hold back any punches when it comes to difficulty. The controls are simple, but the levels are populated with jumps and insane drops (not to mention a whole bunch of objects), all of which will require practice in order to complete a faultless run through a level. You’ll crash often, and even so, the game gets to showcase its rag-doll physics.

Hardcore motorcycle game fans will definitely find themselves at home with Rock(s) Rider HD, and adding to the competitive levels, there’s Game Centre integration as well. Rock(s) features 64 levels spread across 5 industrial environments and the in-game monies earned by completing levels can be used to unlock other levels, minimising the need to splurge on the in-app purchases although for a fee you can basically unlock everything and get the NOX upgrade plus a ROLL CAGE (!) for your bike.

On a technical side of things, Rock(s) Rider is a testament to how hardware performance has evolved in the past three years, illustrating the progress in shaders, textures, effects and dynamic objects. With its graphics and physics requirements, and weighing in at over 2 GB, Rock(s) Rider HD is definitely a game to showcase a fancy new iOS device. Nineoverten.com rates Rock(s) Rider – HD Edition at a 4.5 of of 5 for the hardcore motorcycle Trials-style gameplay and its technical powerhouse showcase of both graphics and physics.